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Topic: Legal

Do you read EULAs?

Summary: There's no better time to realize just how many EULAs (End User License Agreements), and just how incomprehensible they are, than when setting up a new PC. But does anyone actually bother reading them?

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

By for Hardware 2.0 |

There's no better time to realize just how many EULAs (End User License Agreements), and just how incomprehensible they are, than when setting up a new PC. But does anyone actually bother reading them?

[poll id="572"]

I'll be honest with you, I rarely read EULAs. I've been exposed to so much EULA legal mumbo-jumbo and gobbledygook over the years that I've come to the conclusion that you can distill the pages of circuitous prattle down to the following:

Blah, blah, blah ... heads we win, tails you lose ... blah, blah blah ...

Occasionally I will venture into a EULA looking for answers to very specific questions, such as how many installs of a particular program I'm legally allowed to do. However, most of the time the answer isn't forthcoming, at which point I admit defeat and either Google for the answer or hit the company with an email asking for clarification.

If I can't make sense of EULAs, I hate to think what the average user makes of them.

Topic: Legal

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Talkback

38 comments
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  • RE: Do you read EULAs?

    We have become so saturated with EULAs that we have become numb to them and just accept them without reading them. On a weekly average I come arcoss at least 5 or more.
    mcfant
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Do you read EULAs?

      @mcfant
      Read or don't read.... You are not installing the software if you don't agree with it anyway. So if you read and don't like the EULA then what are you going to do? "Opened Software sorry we can't exchange or refund".
      donotdisconnect
      Reply Vote

  • RE: Do you read EULAs?

    I'll browse over them quickly if its new software I'm not familiar with. If its software that I've had before then it gets skipped and I continue with the install. Reading EULAs isn't a bad thing, just look at how Google got caught trying to take over with their EULA.
    Loverock Davidson
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Do you read EULAs?

      @Loverock Davidson
      Please explain that comment.

      How did Google get caught? Some type of fraud or what.

      Hooay!
      daikon
      Reply Vote

  • Nope

    It is a cost/benefit thing. It takes more time and effort than it is worth - virtually ALL the time. And notice I said "virtually", because once in a while someone gets their nuts in the wringer because they did not read it.<br><br>Maybe they should face greater regulation so that ordinary mortals may read and understand them.
    Economister
    Reply Vote

  • Even worse.

    Most EULA's state that they are subject to change to which you are bound and they state that you should pro-actively re-scan EULA's and terms of use often. I doubt that is enforceable under law, you can't change a "contract" unilaterally without notice, but in general, like you said, they are a joke.

    For example...
    http://www.garmex.com.vn/SUMMIT%20Privacy%20Policy.htm
    [B]We reserve the right to change the terms of this Privacy Policy. Your continued use of the Site following any changes to this Privacy Policy will be deemed to constitute your acceptance of such changes. Please check this page regularly for any changes.[/B]

    There you go, now keep in mind virtually EVERY EULA says that, but it is up to you to review and scan for ANY changes before each and every use of the website in this example.

    TripleII
    TripleII-21189418044173169409978279405827
    Reply Vote

  • I use an old program called EULAlyzer...

    Several years ago I downloaded EULAlyzer. You use it to scan EULAs for terms such as ,"Third Party, Partners, Search History, ..." Sometimes it can be pretty revealing, it may even make you question whether you really want that piece of software you're installing.
    Scubajrr
    Reply Vote

    • I am going to have to look into that little utility...

      @Scubajrr... Thank you.
      Snooki_smoosh_smoosh
      Reply Vote

    • RE: Do you read EULAs?

      @Scubajrr I use that same product and in general it's very good at pointing out the non-standard parts of EULAs. It's free, easy to use, and handy when you're reading some of the less than MS EULAs. Mostly what I look for is any ownership of anything I might do/produce with their program/applcation. You'll see it mostly in development apps such as MS licenses, or at least used to; I don't buy MS any longer.
      twaynesdomain-22354355019875063839220739305988
      Reply Vote

    • RE: Do you read EULAs?

      @Scubajrr Did you read the EULA for it?
      ImaGremlin
      Reply Vote

  • RE: Do you read EULAs?

    Used to do a quick scan, just to be sure I wasn't also giving them the right to install things other than the primary program, like toolbars etc., Since I now use Ubuntu Linux, I no longer have that problem! 8-) no more EULAs !
    leopards
    Reply Vote

    • RE: Do you read EULAs?

      @leopards

      You still have that problem under a different name, its called GPL.
      Loverock Davidson
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Do you read EULAs?

        @Loverock Davidson
        Good one! LOL, substituting 'solution' with a 'problem', now this is what I call funny! Thanks for being the funny kid on the block!
        kirovs@...
        Reply Vote

    • RE: Do you read EULAs?

      @leopards --I always run the expert install (or whatever they call it). I can then opt out of most of the extra things like toolbars, setting Yahoo (or Bing! or ask.com or whatever) as my default search engine, etc...
      swattz101
      Reply Vote

    • I Agree?

      @leopards
      Want to put Ubuntu or any Linux distro on one machine or several, no problem. That is the Foundations of the GPL, Nobody should be restricted by the software they use.
      Hooay!
      daikon
      Reply Vote

    • RE: Do you read EULAs?

      @leopards you need to stop and think a bit; you're still tied to several agreements along the way.
      twaynesdomain-22354355019875063839220739305988
      Reply Vote

      • RE: Do you read EULAs?

        @twaynesdomain <br>The whole point of the GPL (and other similar open-source licenses) I believe, is to make the licensing text understandable by us mere mortals. I think this is the point of the article: there's so much legal-ese in a EULA that nobody reads them.
        Bob63
        Reply Vote

  • RE: Do you read EULAs?

    I usually skim them, seeing if something pops out at me, until my eyes cross or start to roll up in my head. Sometimes, if I am having trouble sleeping, I will read one. :-)
    swattz101
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Do you read EULAs?

    If it is from a company I trust about my privacy I don't bother but otherwise I skip down to the privacy section. I have halted an install a couple of times because of the EULA.
    Mythos7
    Reply Vote

  • RE: Do you read EULAs?

    Never.
    james347
    Reply Vote
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